Damnable Pact is a good draw x spell, which can be political, or can be used to burn someone to death. Weird Harvest is an interesting political option, that can let you win on the spot with enough ramp.

10 months ago

No idea how it would do in an actual game... :/ But yes, it would be fun to play with on a casual day. I feel like it might need more stalling, something like Eternal Scourge, perhaps.

Soul Separator could be particularly funny if they managed to get rid of your Tree of Perdition, as you can get a 0/13 for blocking and a flying 1/1 with defender and Tap: Target opponent's life total becomes 1.

1 year ago

Yeah, I do sack Sifter more times than I'd like. Frankly, I couldn't think of someone else that would have the impact at 3CC. So by playing him I naturally went spread the aristocrat board. Did it with Decimator of the Provinces in mind. But unfortunately it hasn't worked right. And Scion Summoner is a bumb. Felt something of a necessary evil. Deadbridge Shaman is coming in...

The reason I haven't gone into blue since the beginning the 4x Sanctum of Ugin MB and the lack of standard dual-lands. In your build it made sense as you were running more copies of Pilgrim's Eye and Seek the Wilds. Then finishing with more Eldrazi Bombs. Haven't been a fan of the Blue bombs except Elder Deep-Fiend. Haven't played them but I did against them with my U/B emerge deck. They were annoying, slowed me down for a turn, then the opponent lost. Both games same thing.

On a similar note I have been trying out a Cryptolith Rite version tonight. Of course, the deck can off like Rite decks do. In the end I'd say each build are about equally powered. Personally, I don't like Rite cuz Standard has dookie for 1CC mana dorks... or much of anything. But it still is great. Elvish Visionary feels like a must in my listed build. Somehow I fear clogging the 2CC spot will back-fire more than cantripping a 1/1.

1 year ago

I often found myself sacrificing a Catacomb Sifter turn four because it was the only emerge option, or found Scion Summoner weak for its position when not used as an emerge target - I think that the latter could be removed for 1x Pilgrim's Eye and one of something else.

This build looks good enough to practically copy-paste to mine as an update, to test branching into blue. I still think that blue is a sweet option for this if it can be fit in, with a nice array of powerful cards. Did Deadbridge Shaman sneak its way out from under the list? (It's happened to me more times than I can count.)

In my own testing, the removal has felt more clunky than not, either wanting a bomb in hand or spare mana to kill something, or both... when the deck really just wants to win by forwarding its board state faster and more evasively than it can be dealt with. Perhaps it could be traded for other things, or has it performed differently for you?

1 year ago

You made a lot of good points for me to digest. Plan on playing a few games tonight and will see how much I can explore.

Certainly, I have to playtest Decimator first. Originally, I bypassed him as he looked like only a dream. But I forgot how slow Standard is. By the time the night was over from playtesting I discovered he is relevant in the meta. However, I'm uneasy about 2x copies. I never want to see 2 in my opening hand. But he is one emerge beast I wouldn't mind sacking the old for a new.

I really did want Seek the Wilds in here. Knew you had it in for utility + sideboard. Which I am a huge fan of. Stopped because I felt I'm going to get run over by aggro. 4x Beastcaller Savant as the only body/removal until turn 3 didn't feel right. Thoughts on that?

Didn't know if blue was worth splashing. Albeit Altered Ego is excellent here. And he was in my original list. But I felt like trying to work a 3rd color without running Seek the Wilds and a pricier mana base was backfiring. With how you have your build set up it looks right. I'll test. Would like to have more SB options here, too.

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